


Till Death Do Us Part

by GrungeWitch



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bickering, Billy Hargrove Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Billy Hargrove might be alive, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Confused Steve Harrington, Everyone Thinks They're Together, Fluff and Angst, Gay Billy Hargrove, M/M, Match Maker Mind Flayer, Mutual Pining, Rating May Change, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Slow Burn, Steve Harrington Has a Bad Time, Steve Harrington in The Upside Down, Stranger Things 3
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-10-10
Packaged: 2020-09-06 23:56:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20300053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrungeWitch/pseuds/GrungeWitch
Summary: Steve Harrington disappeared during the Battle of Starcourt. Now he's trapped in a very Upside Down world where Nancy has a mini Nancy, the kids aren't kids, and he's not single anymore. But... at least he's not totally alone, right?"Billy! Your husband is embarrassing himself by being a colossal dumbass get out here!""I'm sorry what did you just say?""That you're a dumbass.""Not that part."





	1. Down The Rabbit Hole

**July 4th, **

**The Machine Room in the Russian Underground Base.**

“Steve!” Robin screamed in horror, reaching for her best friend with one outstretched hand, the other holding onto the door to the control room to prevent her from flying away.

The room felt like it was stuck in the middle of a tornado, wind propelling objects at a dangerous speed through the air. The source of all of the destruction came from the portal to The Upside Down that the Russian’s had opened in an attempt to study the other dimension. However… of course, in classic Steve Harrington fashion, he'd managed to hit the wrong button that had sent the whole room crazy, activating some unknown suction force trying to pull anything and anybody straight into The Upside Down.

* * *

**40 minutes earlier…**

“But Tammy Thompson... why her? I mean you had the options of Nancy, of Stacy, of Jessica… _Jessica_ who now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure would swing your way. But you thought Tammy Thompson was the girl of your dreams?” Steve asked Robin as they sped back to Starcourt to rescue everybody from the Mind Flayer.

Robin rolled her eyes, one arm hanging out the car window. “Guess I never thought I had a chance with those girls. They would never have looked in my direction, not while hanging out with you anyway.”

Steve hummed in thought. “But _Tammy Tho-“_

“Is now really the time dingus?” Robin snapped at him, gesturing to the carpark to the mall they were heading towards. “Hey, is that gunshots?”

In the distance, the sound gunfire popping made them both share a concerned glance and Steve immediately knew it had to be Nancy firing from personal experience of seeing her with a gun. Hastily he pressed down harder on the gas, the engine roaring as they rounded the corner to the entrance of Starcourt where the others were still trying to get their own car to work. As predicted, it was Nancy firing the gun; not at the Mind Flayer but at another car coming straight for theirs. The Mind Flayer wasn't even in sight.

“Oh hell, is that Billy?” Steve fretted, watching the familiar Camaro race towards Nancy who wasn’t moving out of the way. “She’s gonna get herself killed- hold on to something!” Steve told Robin, the vehicle already going well over 60mph at this point but that didn't matter to him. It felt like they were doing something like 88mph.

“Oh my god-“ Robin shrieked, hands gripping onto the side of the car for any kind of support as she realised Steve’s grand plan. “You’re going to get _us _killed-“ she exclaimed but didn’t get to finish as Steve’s car collided with Billy’s, spinning it off course so it narrowly avoided crashing into its original target.

The car spun and he hit the brakes, feeling Robin’s head knock onto his shoulder at the sharp movement then snap back to her side of the car as they came to a stop. He sat there panting in relief that he’d somehow pulled that off, staring at Nancy who straightened up and locked eyes with him, nodding her thanks. Then he sought out Billy’s car, seeing the bonnet catch fire.

“Are you ok?” He asked Robin.

She looked paler than usual. “Ask me tomorrow?”

Snarling interrupted the beautiful moment of brief success and they both stood up in the topless car, Robin swearing under her breath as they watched the Mind Flayer emerge from the roof of Starcourt. It looked like a huge spider… taken straight from your worst nightmares. It roared and began advancing to get down onto the carpark, which was their cue to leave.

The others had their car working and honked the horn for them to get in, but they Mind flayer was already on the ground, so Steve just waved for them to go onwards without him and Robin. There was no way they’d make it to the other car in time, so he hopped over the car door, having no time to open it and grabbed Robin so she’d follow him.

“Go, go, go-“ he ushered her as they ran for cover behind another random car left in the carpark, hearing tires screech behind them and large footsteps thunder against the ground. He pushed Robin down out of sight and peeped over the bonnet of their current hiding spot, seeing their old car get crushed by the Mind Flayers foot as it chased after the others. That made a pout capture his lips as he stared at the remains of the Toddfather that now resembled something more like a pancake rather than a car.

When the Mind Flayer sounded far enough away Steve stood up. “Come on, come on, let’s go.”

“Where?! I don’t think that thing’s gonna be gone for long.” Robin worried as they made a beeline for Starcourt.

“Anywhere’s better than out here.” He decided.

The walkie-talkie in his hand buzzed to life and Murray’s voice came through. “-I’m sorry Hopper I really thought I knew Planck’s Constant! The code _is_ Planck’s constant I just need to remember it."

They slowed once inside and Robin gestured to the radio. “Did he just say Planck’s constant?”

Steve glanced to her in confusion, hunched over catching his breath. “What about a plank?”

She rolled her eyes, snatching the radio from him. “Give that thing to me. Hello? This is Robin. Did you say the code was Planck’s Constant?”

“Yeah, yeah, it is just... just give me a second… let’s see it’s 66…” Murray trailed off, muttering numbers.

Robin licked her lips then clicked the radio back on. “I.. I know this! Steve, I know it!” She said excitedly and he grinned goofily back at her, gesturing for her to continue. “Oh- Right so Planck’s Constant is 6.62607… uh, 004.” She said back and Steve cheered her. However, all they got was static in return. “Hello? Hello, does anybody copy? Damn it somebody’s fiddling with the signal and it’s throwing ours off.”

“Well, there goes that plan.” Steve sighed.

“Come on Dingus, we have to go down there.” She decided.

Now, this wasn’t the smartest idea in the world. A little voice at the back of Steve’s head was desperately trying to scream that to him. But that voice was also being drowned out by the possible concussion he’d gained from the beating the Russian’s had given him, from the drugs still effecting his system, and also from sheer adrenaline and possible stupidity. So, he nodded in agreement, and they raced for the elevator.

* * *

When they got to the bottom of the elevator, alarms were blaring alongside flashing red lights. Voices shouted around every corner and there was clear panic coursing through the tunnels at whatever disruption Hopper, Joyce and Murray had already caused. There were bodies scattered everywhere that they dodged to make their way towards where they last remembered walking, having no idea where to really find anybody from their team. So far, their plan was to wing it.

Eventually, they made it to the room they snuck through earlier that night, ducking behind the same storage units and thankfully not having to be as stealthy now that people were just rushing frantically about with other concerns. Unable to get much further without being seen they pushed their way into another room and carefully closed the door behind them, letting out sighs of relief.

“Okay, this was a bad plan...” Robin declared.

“Yep. The worst.”

“What the hell are you kids _doing _down here?!” Hopper’s voice exclaimed, making both of them jump and turn around to see Hopper and Joyce walking through the same corridor, carrying a metal briefcase. “For once could you all just listen to what I have to say instead of putting yourselves in danger.”

“We know what Planck’s constant is!” Robin justified their need to be down here.

Hopper shot her an exasperated glance, holding up the briefcase. “Yeah, we just had to listen to a Limahl concert to get it, so you’re a little late. You couldn’t have just radioed it in?”

“Our radio lost signal…so we thought we’d just come and find you,” Steve said awkwardly, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. “That place is crawling with guards, so we hid in here.”

Joyce dragged a hand over her face. “Ok, ok, we don’t have time for this so just stick with us and we’ll cover for you. We’re dressed in uniform so stay right by our side. Do you both understand?”

“Crystal clear, Mrs. Byers.” Steve nodded.

They walked relatively undisturbed, Steve and Robin having to duck out of sight occasionally since most of the Russian’s down here were probably already looking out for two people dressed in little blue sailor outfits. Joyce and Hopper gave out smiles and waves to guards passing to throw off the scent of suspicion. Overall it seemed like luck was finally lending them a helping hand!

At last, they reached the control room, Hopper going in first to face the crowd of scientist rushing around like headless chickens. Clearly, they had no idea what was going on or how to help the situation. A panel allowed them to see beyond the control room into where the device opening the portal was, a red aura radiating through the glass.

This was crazy.

Absolutely crazy.

“Hey! Everybody out.” Hopper ordered, catching the attention of the room that sent him a collectively confused glance. “Everybody out!” Hopper repeated when nobody complied, lifting his gun and shooting the ceiling. Whether they spoke any English or not, that certainly got the message across.

It was enough prompting to get the scientist to run out the room, shielding their heads with clipboards. Steve gave them a half-hearted wave as they filtered out, Robin swatting his hand down. Then they all focused on the gateway to The Upside Down, gaping at it and approaching the panels.

"I’m so quitting if we get out of this alive,” Robin muttered, rubbing her arms as she observed the gateway.

“Hey,” Hopped called, holding up the briefcase. “You ready to end this?”

They all nodded.

* * *

“Right, you two stay back there. Let the adults do their thing then we’ll get the hell out of here. Any questions? No? Good.” Hopped pointed to the corner of the room furthest from the controls.

Steve and Robin didn’t have the strength to object to that so they easily obeyed and collapsed into a pitiful heap in the corner. By now they were each reaching a point of exhaustion, which was a sign that whatever the Russian's had drugged them with was finally leaving their systems. Having a moment of reflection, it felt a bit stupid having come all the way down here no matter how logical it had seemed at the time. They were probably going to get an earful about it later on from just about everybody.

His radio buzzed. “Steve, do you copy? Where the hell are you?” Dustin’s voice rang through. "Are you with Robin still?"

Oh boy, he’s gonna get an earful now.

Awkwardly he brought it to his mouth. “Yeah, I copy. Don’t freak out… but we’re back at the base.”

“You’re _what?!_”

“In the control room or whatever. Look don’t worry we’re with Hopper and Joyce. Perfectly safe. We tried to get the code down here because we lost signal earlier. Robin knew that plank code.” He explained best he could without making it sound dumb.

He could _feel _Dustin rolling his eyes through the walkie-talkie. “Well duh, you lost signal cause I was adjusting it so that I could contact Suzie to ask for Planck’s constant! All you had to do was wait five minutes! Shit be careful down there Steve.”

“Dude! you managed to phone Suzie in the end?”

“_Children_, I am losing my patience listening to your pointless chatter on a communication line that is dedicated to delivering important information to help save the world _not _fordoing little sing songs and gossiping.” Murray snapped, cutting off their conversation.

There was a moment of silence before Dustin replied. “Copy that Bald Eagle, Scoops Troop going radio silent.”

Steve turned to Robin, setting his walkie down on his lap. “Why are they Scoops Troop and not us?”

Robin flicked him. “We’re also part of Scoops Troop. We’ve just split up.”

Hopper and Joyce went to the key panels to set up and Hopper rose his own walkie-talkie to his face. “Murray, you all set down there?”

“All set but I’ve got some company which I’d love you to obliterate,” Murray replied, voice strained from stress.

Wait… obliterate?

“Will do. Hang tight.” Hopper assured him and turned to Joyce, the pair beginning the countdown to turn the keys at the same time. The gateway could only be closed if they turned those damn keys at the same time which was an annoying little security measure that shouldn't have been added in Steves oh so humble opinion.

Steve watched from his and Robin’s corner, waiting for the big moment to occur, then blinked in confusion as a man the size of the damn Terminator walked in.

“Hopper!” Robin screeched, having spotted the newcomer as well.

He walked straight passed the two huddled in the corner and over to Hopper who spun around at the last second to block a punch that would have clocked him over the back of the head. Steve was on his feet then, racing over to help just as Joyce got shoved into a control panel and knocked out.

“Hey!” He yelled and swung a punch of his own, getting his fist caught and twisted, forcing him down onto his knees where he gave out a weak yelp. Robin ran over to help by attempting to grab a gun on the ground but got a fistful of her hair trapped in the man’s other hand before she could reach it, getting shoved aside as well.

Hopper jumped on the man’s back, forcing him to release Steve who cradled his throbbing wrist the second it was freed. The pair began wrestling, alternating between who had the upper hand and who didn’t. Steve tried to get involved by tackling the Terminator lookalike off Hopper, which only resulted in him being thrown over one shoulder and slammed down onto the control panel.

Whatever Steve had hit when he landed on the controls had set something off outside as the machines went haywire, a strange whistling shrieking as a sudden wind outside the room burst to life. Once he recovered, he pushed himself off the controls and searched for Hopper, discovering that he and the Terminator man had fought their way out into the machine room and were currently battling on the balcony leading to the gateway. Steve crashed into the glass panel to watch fearfully. Hopper seemed to be winning, straddling the man and sending punches down until he got flipped over which resulted with his head landing dangerously close to a spinning generator that would surely decapitate him should he get any closer. Correction, if Hopper got any closer that thing would churn his head to mush.

_Shit, shit, shit._

Joyce clambered back onto her feet and stared at the scene in dismay, making eye contact with Hopper. Steve glanced between the pair, wondering if there was something more than friendship between them because the anguish capturing Joyce’s face right now was heartbreaking to witness. She’d already lost somebody close to her last year. Steve couldn’t let her lose Hopper too. Likewise, he wasn’t letting El loose the only parental figure in her life.

Which prompted the second most stupid idea he’s had tonight. He ran out the door and onto the balcony to join the fight, charging straight towards the Terminator guy and tackling him off Hopper. At this point he felt a change happen, the wind was picking up drastically and it took him a second to realise that the source of it came from the gateway to The Upside Down. Whatever button he’d fell on earlier had activated some kind of suction force.

And it was getting stronger.

The man kicked Steve in the stomach which made him groan and roll onto his back.

“Steve!” He heard Robin yell.

“Shut off the wind! Hit the button!” he called back, blocking another punch that would have hit his face.

Robin must have hit something because it got _worse_, Steve’s body was actually struggling to remain in place on the ground and not slide backwards. The man had the same problem, glancing over to the gateway briefly which served as enough of a distraction for Hopper to grab him and pull him away from Steve.

“See you in hell,” Hopper muttered into the Russian's ear before pushing him into the device.

The body was shredded instantly, blood spraying everywhere alongside sparks as the contraption struggled to continue running smoothly forcing an electrical explosion to erupt from it, shaking the room in the process. Then lightning-like electricity bolts struck out, spinning rapidly and creating a barrier between Steve and the others. It looked like a windmill made from electricity, and both of them had to block their faces with their arms momentarily until they were safe distances away from it

Steve wobbled back onto his feet, having to cling onto the railing as the wind increased and wildly tousled his hair. He could only gap in alarm at Hopper through the barrier, the other man staring back while mirroring Steve's expression and trying to work out a solution to get Steve back to the safe side of the electricity windmill. Unfortunately, it was a one-way balcony.

He swallowed thickly and gestured behind Hopper. “Just go!”

Hopper opened and closed his mouth a few times before nodding stiffly and retreating back towards the control room with Joyce. Robin’s head poked out the doorway, blocking the door from flapping in the wind with her body while shielding her squinting eyes with one hand as she sought out her friend, seeing his predicament and instantly trying to bolt over to save him. Hopper caught her by the waist before she got very far, dragging her back to the control room.

The wind practically howled creating the tenacious pressure that was pushing everything towards the gateway, and suddenly without warning, it got overwhelmingly more powerful.

Steve felt like a rug got ripped out from under his feet, a force dragging his body backwards as he yelped and scraped his nails along the floor to find something to grab onto. The grooves in the metal scraped at his elbows and knees, but he barely acknowledged it. In the midst of his panic as he went hurtling down the balcony like a tumbleweed he managed by some god-given miracle to grab onto the railing, hanging over the divide between the balcony and the gateway. The only thing keeping him from flying into The Upside Down right now was his ever-weakening grip on that railing, but with sweat and blood mingled all over his palms he could feel his fingers slipping already.

“Steve!” Robin screamed in horror, reaching for her friend with one outstretched hand, the other holding onto the door to the control room to keep her from flying away. There was no way she'd be able to reach him from all the way across the chamber.

The room felt like it was stuck in the middle of a tornado, wind propelling objects at a dangerous speed through the air. For Steve, the pull of the gateway had replaced the pull of gravity, and as far as he was concerned, he was performing a handstand on the wrong side of the railing as though he were on top of the high bar in the gym. And that was terrifying. It was the same for everybody else, he could see several Russians that had come into the room to see what all the commotion was about, finding themselves now trapped in the same crisis as him. But everybody else had safety layers unlike him. And by that, he means that if he lets go, he’ll go flying straight into The Upside Down, whereas if those Russian’s let go, they’ll just land on the bannister he’s holding onto. See, safety layers.

In other words, if he was playing Mario Bros at the arcade, he’d be on his last life right now. Which is annoying because he’d be safe in the control room if he didn’t have some stupid self-sacrificing complex.

“Robin!” he croaked in a panic, trying to pull himself closer to the bannister so that he had a better grip but finding his muscles were no match for the strength of the portal. “Oh my god- oh god-“

“Steve hold on!” Robin called to him, desperately looking around for something that could be of any help but there was nothing she could do without getting incinerated by the electricity wall or pulled in as well. She nearly screamed upon seeing Steve’s fearful expression as he slipped and caught himself again. “They’ll hit the switch any second now just don’t you dare let go! If you let go I swear I’m going to kill you!”

“Oh, really Robin?! Really?! I was thought I might let go, I thought that might be a _fun _thing for me to do!” he yelled back at her, unsure whether she could hear him over all the destruction.

“Not the time, Dingus!” She shot back, confirming that she could hear him.

“Close it!” Came Dustin’s voice from the walkie-talkie. Steve forgot that he had even attached it to his belt.

“Do something!” Robin cried to Hopper who regretfully stared at her and spoke something that Steve couldn’t hear. Then she broke into a fierce argument with Hopper, angrier than Steve had ever seen the girl even when they'd been serving the worst kind of customers at Scoops.

“Close it!” Dustin shouted again.

The machinery in the room choked at the commotion, being struck by everything whizzing past it to reach The Upside Down, so it was becoming relatively damaged at this point.

“Oh come on-“ Steve cursed as a piece of loose metal crashed against the railing and then struck his left shoulder. That caused him to accidentally release the railing with one hand, letting it flap unwillingly at his side as he fought to push it forwards and resecure his grip, but the sheer force of the wind made that close to impossible. 

Robin’s head whipped back towards Steve, seeing the desperation and fearful acceptance writing itself across his features as he realised, he was going to slip any second now. Even if they shut the tear to The Upside Down, Steve had a good twenty-foot drop below him. The odds certainly weren’t working in his favour. Robin continued outstretching her hand towards him like she was somehow able to get to him if she just tried hard enough or as if she thought her arm would stretch across the distance between them and through the electricity without being injured. Then tears began spilling down her cheeks.

“No- Steve! NO-” She shrieked as Hopper hauled her back into the control room, slamming the door shut behind them. He kept holding onto her until they reached where Joyce was already waiting with the keys.

Steve felt his heart drum in his ears, willing them to just turn the thing off already. He didn’t know why Robin was so upset. He’d be fine if they turned it off right? He just had to hold on.

Robin slammed her body against the glass at the front of the control room, pressing her face against it and locking eyes with him. He gave her a shaky smile trying to tell her it was ok, that whatever happened was _ok_. But she just kept shouting something inaudible to him and whacking her fist against the glass, no matter how hard he tried to telepathically communicate to her that everything was going to be ok. They just had to turn the keys and he'd be ok.

Right?

A metal pipe soared through the air so fast they all missed it until it whacked Steve in the head unexpectedly. The clang of the metal hitting his skull rung out even over the insane whirling of the machinery, and the others could only watch helplessly as Steve let go and got launched backwards through the air. He didn’t scream, he didn’t even flail mid-air, he simply went limp. Robin was borderline frantic at this point while being held back by Hopper once again so that she didn’t go charging back into the machine room after Steve.

And Steve’s world went black.

* * *

“Close it now!”

Hopper struggled with a furious Robin but managed to get back to the controls, grabbing his key and jamming it in place then nodding at Joyce who quietly sobbed but returned a nod to him anyway. Then on the count of three, they turned the keys at the same time.

White exploded into the machine room, blinding their vision to the point where they all impulsively rose their arms to shield their eyes and ducked down. The whirling of the machinery abruptly halted, extinguishing with it the strange force coming from the gateway. Anybody who'd been unfortunate enough to be stood in that room was vaporised within seconds, not a spec of them being left behind to prove that they'd ever been down here. Hopper had told Robin what would happen. He'd told her that nobody in that room was going to survive such a blast of energy. They'd be obliterated. And that hadn't sat well with Robin who'd been watching her friend fight for his life in that very room. She'd argued, pleaded, and fought for them to delay the blast. Tried so damn hard to get Steve out of there. 

But now it was done. And Steve Harrington wasn't stood in the room with them.

The second it was deemed safe, Robin ripped herself away from Hopper’s grasp and flung open the door, sprinting down the platform past the smoking machinery and over to the end of the balcony where she'd last seen Steve. She crashed into the railing with heavy pants, glancing over it to search the floor below with some kind of conjured bullish hope that Steve might be down there.

“Dingus?!” Robin called, voice echoing around the suddenly silent chamber, nausea lurching her insides when she got no response. “_Steve_?!" She tried again, voice cracking this time. "Steve please!”

Footsteps sounded behind her and a gentle hand pressed against her shaking shoulder, but she didn’t turn to see who it was. “Honey… honey, he’s gone. I’m sorry.”

Joyce.

“He… he was right there,” Robin said blankly. “Right there.”

“I know…there was nothing we could do.” Joyce sympathised with a small sniffle of her own. "We had to close it."

“Did you see him go through? Did he go through that thing?” Robin fired questions. “What happens if he goes through?”

“He’s gone,” Joyce said simply.

She cried silent tears, unsure whether Steve was dead or if he'd gone through that weird gateway they'd shut. If he had gone through it she still had no clue where Steve would be or really what had just happened considering she was new to all this nonsense. As far as she was aware, she’d just lost her best friend.

Murray came bounding into the room, doing a headcount and then freezing upon seeing her. “What’s she doing down here?!”

Hopper sighed, staring at the faint red line left in the wall, the only remaining part of the gateway. “How many times did I have to say it…it was a simple rule to follow. You kids stay up there where it was safe-“

“_Hop.” _Joyce scolded, gesturing to a quivering Robin who was desperately trying to keep it together. “Stop it. If he hadn’t of gone down there and helped you out with that guy, then you might have been overpowered or stuck down there instead! Show a bit of respect. Would it kill you to at least look a little grateful?.”

Hoppers nostrils flared. “That’s the thing, Joyce. It would have been better if it were me. It’s _always_ better if it’s me. That’s my job.”

“Would somebody tell me what happened?!” Murray demanded.

“We lost the Harrington boy.” Hopper supplied for him with a growl.

Russian guards burst into the control room behind them and that was their cue to leave, so they began sprinting back through the base with Hopper keeping Robin and Joyce close beside him. He'd be damned if he was losing another person down here. Their hearts were already heavy with the knowledge that they were leaving one member short.

Then the walkie-talkie sparked to life again.

“Did you do it!? Guys did we win?! There are helicopters heading towards Starcourt!” Dustin said optimistically, and Robin’s heart sank just a little bit more because somebody was going to have to break the news to the kid when they got out of here.

* * *

**July 4th**

**The Unknown...?**

It wasn’t that he’d passed out so to say, because he hadn’t. But Steve could say with a strong degree of certainty that he couldn’t possibly be completely conscious right now. He felt like a puppet on strings being shaken by a toddler, his body being flung about wildly in various directions at neck-breaking speed with no help from the disorientating wind gusting and howling around him. All he could physically do with himself was observe the inky darkness encompassing him, though he wasn’t entirely sure if his eyes were open or not right now, so it was rather impossible to tell whether he was seeing the back of his eyelids or if he was genuinely trapped in darkness. Wherever he seemed to be had a severe lack of oxygen, and his lungs burnt in harsh protest.

After an antagonising amount of time, a switch flipped to alter his situation, the dark abyss dissolving and spitting him out into a burst of light, allowing him control over his paralyzed body once more. With one sharp gasp, he jolted upright, scrambling into a sitting position while blinking rapidly trying to make his surroundings materialise faster than his groggy vision was currently allowing him to do.

Oddly enough, he found himself sitting in bed, under the covers of his king-size and- _jeez _his head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton buds. In his hazy state, he couldn’t fathom what had just happened, settling for the idea that he’d just experienced sleep paralysis. The room didn't seem as abnormally bright as it'd first appeared now that his eyes had adjusted to the early morning rays bleeding through the windows, which made him relax.

With a shaky sigh, he flopped back down onto the pillow, burying his face into the cotton material and moaning in comfort as it cushioned around his aching head. His bed had never felt this good before, the comforter was thick and irresistibly soft like he was floating on a cloud. A sleepy smile tugged the corners his lips as he began imagining himself lounging on a cloud in the sky. Then another cloud drifted over to join his, this one carrying Robin. But she was shouting at him. He couldn't hear her because she was just out of earshot, but she looked panicked, her fists banging against an invisible force in the air. Then a red cloud drifted over to his, lightning crackling from it. It felt like he was seeing a larger puzzle at hand that had nothing to do with clouds, except he was missing most of the pieces to complete this puzzle and the ones he did possess didn't make any sense. Something seemed off-centered. 

Images filtered back into his mind, some of being trapped in an underground elevator, some of asking out Robin in a toilet stall... and one of a metal pipe coming straight for his face.

…And hang on why is he in bed right now?

He reopened his eyes and blurrily searched for his alarm clock to check what time it was, only to discover that it was missing from where it was usually balanced on a never used record player his aunt gave him one Christmas. Actually, the record player was also missing. And when he looked past the side table, he noticed that somebody had decided to paint his walls orange in replacement to their usual white, which was definitely not his decision since he wasn’t the biggest fan of the colour orange. Nor could he imagine his parents picking that colour. And, he was so perplexed by the wall colour change because it emphasised to him that his Risky Business poster from the left side wall was also gone. Now he wasn’t the biggest movie nerd out there, but he could appreciate a few from time to time, and this one happened to have Rebecca De Mornay and Tom Cruise starring in it, therefore, he had a poster of them to wake up to. However, it had been replaced by a dartboard of all things.

Here’s the thing, Steve couldn’t recall picking up a single dart in the last five years. So why was there a dartboard hung up on his wall? Nobody in his family was even that fond of darts to his knowledge.

Slowly the cogs in his brain began turning enough for him to come to the bewildering conclusion that this was definitely _not_ his bedroom.

Something crinkled the sheets as it shuffled beneath them, the movement barely registering in his mind as he continued trying to understand where the hell he was. It was an arm slinking around his waist that made him flinch and whip his head over his shoulder, finding tufts of blonde, dishevelled, hair poking out from under the covers beside him.

“Mmf” The lump in the sheets grunted, alerting him immediately that this definitely wasn’t a girl judging by the deep tone that was still gravelly from sleep. “Well g'mornin to you too, sweetheart. Everything alright? That sounded like one hell of a nightmare.” The lump mumbled and _holy shit_ Steve recognised that voice.

When Steve didn’t respond due to the invasion of shock currently holding his motor system hostage, the covers were tugged down to reveal Billy Hargrove cuddling blissfully up against his back, eyes barely open.

Steve began screaming so loud his ears popped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I thought Robin was pretty smart in season 3 and figured that I'm gonna make her know Planck's Constant cause I love her and I just think a 14-year-old being the only one to know Planck's Constant over everybody else was weird. Listen I just needed a way to get Steve down into the Russian base for the plot so let it slide.
> 
> This is too much fun to write because all Steve knows about Billy was that he was possessed. Steve's gonna freak OUT in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, the song I listened to while writing the bit where Steve gets sucked into the Upside Down was 'Light of The Seven' by Ramin Djawadi.
> 
> That scene was also partly inspired by the Doctor Who episode 'Doomsday' where (SPOILER) Rose almost gets sucked into the void with the Daleks.


	2. Doesn't Ring A Bell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ‘Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream  
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen  
Give him two lips like roses and clover  
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over’  
-Mr Sandman

Flailing rather unceremoniously, he went tumbling off the bed and straight onto the ground letting out a series of screams and dragging all the sheets down with him. After landing in a tangled heap he immediately began kicking his legs to free himself – which is how he discovered that he was currently incredibly naked.

Like, butt naked.

Mortified he grabbed the sheets and flung them back over his lower half to protect his wavering dignity best he could, then gawked upwards to find a _butt naked_ Billy Hargrove propping himself up by his elbows to face Steve with almost amused confusion. Billy didn’t seem overly bothered that he was also on full display right now, unlike Steve. In fact, he seemed more concerned about having just being woken up, wiggling a finger in his ear like Steve’s previous screaming was still disturbing him.

“Are you trying to wake up the whole of Hawkins or something?” He grumbled.

“W-Wha-?!” He bleated, eyes darting around the room several times before landing back on Billy.

“You alright down there?” Billy asked, raising his eyebrows. He then promptly yawned and lent over the bed, outstretching a hand towards Steve. “Damn, that nightmare really spooked you good, huh? Come on, lover boy, back to bed. You’re hogging the covers.”

Steve’s hand tightened around the bedsheet, shuffling backwards until his back hit the wall. “Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh… my _god_.”

Billy fought back a smirk on his lips. “What, I’m not that bad a sight to wake up to am I? What’s gotten into you?” He asked playfully then noticed the heavy rise and fall of Steve’s chest accompanied by the alarmed eyes which made his own outstretched hand flop against the mattress. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked with more concern, sitting up properly.

“H-How?” He spluttered dumbly, brain failing to keep up with the situation, so he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “What’s going on? Why am I naked? Why are _you _naked?!” he blurted out, eyes roaming over Billy’s _incredibly _toned body then darting back up to a more respectable level, willing his face to not turn an embarrassing shade of red. “How are you even…How did _I _even-!?”

Billy furrowed his eyebrows. “Quit yapping at me like that, would you? It’s way too early for this kind of shit. You’re the one who wanted to get all naked last night so don’t go blaming me. Jesus, chill out.”

“What do you mean chill- oh my god did we-? I mean I’m pretty sure I’d remember us... _you- you know_\- holy shit did you drug me?!” Steve began accusing because honestly being drugged might explain why his brain currently felt like it was being stretched out like putty then mushed back together.

Oh, wait… he _did _get drugged, didn’t he? Not by Billy though… Russians? Gah- it didn’t make any sense-

“What?! What the hell are you talking about? I'm not sure what you’re getting so worked up about, of course I didn’t drug you. Fucking lunatic. And no, we didn’t have sex last night. Didn’t think we had that much to drink for you to lose your damn memory.” Billy retorted.

There was this ache in his forehead _throbbing_, only getting worse alongside his rising confusion as he tried to string together loose explanations. This didn’t feel like a hangover kind of headache. This felt like the kind of headache gained from a concussion. In fact, his head felt like somebody had unscrewed it from his shoulders, shaken it violently until all sense of logic he possessed had been jumbled, then loosely refastened it. Which wasn’t helping him organise the massive clutter of images flooding into his mind; images of Scoops Ahoy, of the Russian underground base, of the gateway to the Upside Down…

“Ok, start explaining what the _hell _is going on or I swear I’m gonna lose it.” He warned hotly, screwing his eyes shut and half hoping that when he opened them again, he’d be just about anywhere else on the planet. Of course, when he did open them again, he was still in the unfamiliar room with Billy. “Where am I?”

“Did you hit your head or something? What's wrong with you?” Billy snapped back at him. “We’re in our house -“

“Our?!”

“Oh my lord, yes, _our _house. Ring any bells in that pretty head of yours?” Billy said with a roll of his eyes.

Steve glared fiercely, clambering onto his feet while arranging the sheet hastily around himself to form a makeshift toga. He had to ignore the way his head swam when he got up. “I- I don’t live with you.”

“Well, you forgot to tell me that.” Billy snarked back.

Then his oh so helpful brain chucked a single world at him.

_Possessed._

And the fog in his brain hadn’t cleared up enough yet to allow his brain cells to comprehend what that fully meant; what he did know was that Billy's dangerous. Possessed or not.

Billy didn’t… look possessed. He looked annoyed, tired and naked but not possessed.

“Aren’t you…You’re… you’re supposed to be…” he struggled to formulate a sentence. “Aren’t you still-“ _Possessed._

The ringing in his ears intensified before he could finish which made him hiss and hunch over slightly, pressing fingers against his temple trying to somehow push the pain back out.

“Hey-Hey, maybe you should sit down before you fall down-” Billy tried, outstretching a cautious arm like Steve was a frightened animal.

“Shut up!” He shouted impulsively, straightening himself up with a wince. “Just shut up and back off!”

“Listen I don’t know what crawled up your ass and died this morning but-“ Billy began, making to get up as well.

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!” Steve exclaimed, grabbing the nearest thing to him which happened to be a cinnabar red Anglepoise lamp and pointing at Billy who halted. “Stay right there! Come any closer and I swear to god I’ll kill you.”

Billy shot him an exasperated expression. “With a lamp?”

Steve swallowed thickly and clenched his fingers tighter around the base of the lamp. “Yeah.”

That didn’t seem to translate across as a particularly large threat to Billy, but the man had the decency to remain sitting on the bed and sarcastically raise his hands in faux defeat. “Well fuck, I’m quivering in fear then.”

Awkwardly Steve tugged the plug from the wall and began hurrying past the bed, all the while keeping the lamp aimed at Billy and struggling with not tripping over the bedsheet. Billy really didn’t look like he meant any harm right now, but at the same time _it’s Billy Hargrove_, so Steve was taking absolutely no chances here. There was still a red warning sign flashing in his mind.

_Because what the actual HELL was he doing in bed with Billy?!_

“Don’t follow me.”

Billy rolled his eyes and crashed back down against the mattress. “Yeah, whatever, I’ll see you at breakfast then asshole.”

“Why would I have breakfast with you?!”

“Because you always do! That’s how this fucking place works isn’t it?” Billy retorted in irritation, raising his voice for the first time.

"Stay away from me, Hargrove!” He yelled over his shoulder before fleeing into the corridor.

Without really concocting any sort of plan, he stumbled blindly through the house in search of an exit while nearly toppling over the bottom of his bedsheet about five times. That was before tackling the staircase, which he’s pretty sure he danced clumsily down rather than walked. Billy took Steve’s advice and didn’t follow, which was mildly surprising since Steve was reaching conclusions stating BIlly had kidnapped him.

It wasn’t an overly complicated job to map out the house, so he found himself in the foyer fairly quickly. Billy’s house wasn’t big, but it was a lot nicer than Steve would have ever anticipated. Actually, the interior decorating resembled Steve’s own house in a way, exhibiting the same sort of modernistic style. Though, there seemed to be an abundance of beach themed decorations that made the place feel more… homey. From what he was briefly observing as he ran through the house was that everything displayed clashing of two personalities battling for dominance, an odd intertwining of casual and ornate styles.

Bare feet pattered across the hard-wood floor as he cautiously made his way through the foyer, gaze travelling curiously sideways through an open archway that led to the living room which had him slowing his pace. Once again, he was mildly surprised by how nice it was. That is until he caught sight of an oddly familiar painting hung up above a fireplace that had him stopping to backtrack.

His heart missed a beat.

Unless he was hallucinating – which wasn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility – then that painting had him _in _it. That painting should be in his house. It was a family portrait of him around age ten stood in front of his parents. The Harrington’s had a long-held tradition of getting a family portrait done pretty much every year, this one happened to have been Steve’s favourite because he’d mustered the gall to actually smile in it.

So why the hell was it here?

His eyes darted back up the stairs where he’d left Billy, then he bolted for the front door and battled with the handle, finding it to be locked.

_Crap._

Definitely being abducted right now. Abducted and robbed. Something was seriously wrong. He needs a telephone to call the police or-

“Damn it.” He growled, trying to calm the rising panic crawling up his chest. After ten seconds of unsteady breathing, he gathered his wits again to search around the foyer, triumphantly discovering that the keys were hung up on a hook beside the coat hanger. It was actually a relatively obvious place to keep keys, so he felt a little embarrassed for getting worked up about it.

Finally, he escaped outside into the fresh air, instantly whimpering and stumbling back against the doorframe in reaction to the sudden burst of light and noise. The ringing in his ears flared into sounding like a kettle whistling as it boiled, and the headache evolved into a searing pain blossoming across his forehead. Ok, mental note: _no quick movements into new lighting while stupid head hurts_. Lesson well and truly learnt.

Steve persistently shook his head and blinked rapidly, watching the overly saturated colour of the outside word dim as his vision adjusted. Nothing seemed more attractive right now than curling up into a ball on the ground and trying to coax the pain in his head away, but he couldn’t afford to do that.

“Jesus.” He mumbled, wondering what the hell was wrong with him.

It still hurt looking directly into the early morning sunlight, so he rose a hand to block out the suns glare while he observed where he was. It only had him sinking deeper into a pit of confusion. Because this really wasn’t Billy’s street. This couldn’t be. Steve knew it couldn’t be because on more than one occasion he’s dropped Max off home and according to his memory, he’d dropped her off on a completely different street to this one.

Unless of course, Billy didn’t live with Max anymore but… he was fairly certain the guy did. 

It just didn’t add up.

_For crying out loud Steve, bigger issues at hand than Billy friggen Hargrove’s living situation._

Still shaking his head, he continued onwards down the winding driveway in the front yard towards a street that didn’t even look remotely familiar to him. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to stick around since the whole ordeal gave him the heebie-jeebies. Nobody seemed to be coming after him, so he seemed pretty free to just get up and leave like this. In fact, the more he thought about it the more he began realising that Billy hadn’t even outwardly been trying to hold him there against his will and had just seemed confused by Steve’s outburst. Which was _weird. _For the time being, he just couldn’t assemble any explanation as to why he’d have been in bed with…. with Billy Hargrove of all people, other than the explanation that he’d been kidnapped or drugged.

Heavily drugged.

A white picket fence surrounded the property, a gate at the end of the winding driveway that Steve was hobbling down while internally cursing himself for not stealing some shoes now that stones dug into his feet. Oh well, grabbing shoes hadn’t seemed like his biggest concern. It did mean it took him a minute to reach the gate, leaning on it to brush off his feet, cringing at the dirt sticking to his hands.

Beside the gate was a growing Bing Cherry tree giving off a fairly sweet aroma that reminded Steve of his favourite candy, Airheads, harmonising with the smell of the rose bushes growing alongside the fences. Beyond the gate, the street seemed to pulse with life. Children were already awake playing amongst themselves on their bikes, people were out watering their front gardens or mowing the lawn. It wasn’t a sight he was used to leaving the house too.

“Morning!” Somebody greeted him cheerfully while walking past the gate, glancing back at him and his attire before moving on.

“H-Hey- where am I?” He called after the man but got pointedly ignored. Ok maybe proper clothes might have been a good idea, now everybody was going to think he’s crazy especially considering he was still holding a lamp.

“No mail today I’m afraid, son! Just the paper as usual.” Another random person said to him as they passed by, this time dressed in a mailman uniform and pushing a newspaper into Steve’s free hand then continuing up the street whistling a tune

“No I don’t-“ he tried but the man had already moved onto the next house. “Screw it.” Steve huffed, throwing the newspaper onto the lawn in annoyance and yanking open the gate to march out onto the street with a new determination bubbling to life.

OK, he’s officially out of the house. _Progress._

Now he just needed to figure out where exactly he was and how to get home…

Doing a slow 360 spin on the spot, he tried to locate anything that would indicate exactly where he was; not finding anything to be of help. There wasn’t even a signpost.

For the first time since leaving, Steve caught sight of the house he’d escaped. Well, that definitely wasn’t how the Hargrove’s house looked when he dropped Max off. That right there was quite frankly the definition of a classic American Dream house. White picket fence. Rose bushes. All it was missing was a few kids running around the garden, just like all the other houses on this street had.

“Oh my god, what are you wearing?” A moderately familiar voice laughed, barley pushing through the thick cloud of confusion fogging his mind. “Hey, Earth to Dingus.”

Wait-

“Huh?” He replied dumbly, swirling around on his feet to find Robin walking up the street holding hands with another woman, both of them stifling giggles as they observed him. Relief exploded across his features as he scrambled over to her, “Robin! Oh, thank _god._ You have no idea how glad I am to see you right now._”_

“Is it national dress like a Greek day and I just missed the memo?” She quipped but Steve wasn’t even remotely thinking about how he was stood in the middle of the street wearing nothing but a bedsheet.

“You gotta help me. I think Billy kidnapped me or something and I don’t know what happened and- and-“ He began, grabbing Robin’s arm and dragging her away from the house. “We need to get out of here-“

“Steve!” Robin protested, barely keeping up with him. “What are you doing?”

“I’ll explain in a minute we just have to-“ He paused, finally staring at the other woman holding Robin’s hand. He slowed to a stop again and just _blinked. _“Tammy Thompson?”

Tammy rose her free hand to wiggle her fingers at him. “Morning Steve.”

Robin snorted. “I told you married life was going to drive you insane.”

“M-Married?” He repeated numbly.

“So, what’s Billy done this time?” Tammy asked with a laboured sigh. “Must have been bad to make you come storming out in nothing but your bedsheet. I guess that also means you must have had a good night though.” She finished with a wink.

“And he kidnapped you, how kinky.” Robin teased.

Steve’s face was positively scandalised. “_What?! _That’s not even funny Robin I’m being serious! Just because I came out of his house that doesn’t mean- _you know_. Plus, I’m pretty sure that’s not even his house!” He exclaimed loudly, cringing as he caught further attention on the street. “Why are you with Tammy Thompson?” he added bitterly, having close to no priorities now since nothing was making sense.

Tammy answered for Robin. “Uh, rude. I’m right here. Babe, can we go already? I have an appointment at 1 for my hair. You know I need to get that done ready for my audition.”

Robin smiled fondly and pecked Tammy on the nose. “Sure, give me two secs to make sure Dingus here is ok-“

“Make sure _I’m _ok?! Since when has _this_-“ he cut them off by frantically gesturing between them both. “-Been a thing? Robin, what?”

“Are you drunk or something?” Robin replied in amusement.

“He _is _wearing a bedsheet,” Tammy observed, clearly not agreeing with his fashion sense today.

“OK, forget it. Forget it. Just… what happened with the gate?” He shook his head, deciding to deal with the Tammy situation later. He wasn’t sure how Robin had managed to get together with Tammy in such a short amount of time but there were bigger fish to fry. In fact, he wasn’t sure how long it had been since the gate.

“The… gate?” Robin repeated in confusion.

Steve’s eyes flicked between the apparent couple, Tammy raising an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “You know, the gate. The one in the underground base.” He pressed hopefully, not wanting to outright say it and let Tammy in on the big Upside Down secret, but Robin just continued staring at him which made him lose his patience. “_The gate in the underground Russian base leading to the Upside Down, Robin_.”

“Yep, definitely drunk or high.” Robin decided then cupped her mouth with her hands. “Billy! Your husband is embarrassing himself by being a colossal dumbass get out here!”

Steve impulsively followed Robin’s gaze back to the house, then whirled back around with eyes bulging out his skull. “I’m sorry what’d you just say?”

“That you’re a dumbass?”

“Not that part.”

“…Billy come get your husband?”

Steve gaped, “Why… why would you say that?”

“...Because you married him? Yeah, I know we were all shocked too. Honestly, you’re freaking me out a little bit here. Is everything ok? You’re acting weirder than usual. Did Billy do something? I’ll kick his ass If you want me to. Steve why do you look like you’re gonna-“

“I… I need to go.” He squeaked, stiffly walking away from Robin and Tammy. There was absolutely no way in hell this was real. Maybe he actually was high, who knew? Not him obviously!

“Steve! Steve where are you going you can’t just- “ Robin’s voice carried behind him, but he just picked up the pace. “You’re wearing a bedsheet!”

And he didn’t even care right now!

Part of him was waiting for the whole gang to jump out of the bushes laughing and declaring the whole ordeal to be a joke. But he wasn't lucky enough for that to happen.

* * *

Miserably he stumbled away from the freaky ass street and found himself approaching the way into town which thankfully he did recognise. Apparently, somebody sat in the big chair upstairs was showing him a slither of mercy – though it wasn’t exactly all that merciful to let him walk through town wearing a bedsheet. Arguably that one was entirely his fault.

After the adrenaline wore off embarrassment started to set in, and he had to pointedly ignore all the humoured expressions that everybody kept sending him. Either way, whispers and stares were better than being back there with whatever horror show _that _was.

The more he walked the more his memory fuzz cleared up. Not that it helped his confusion much. Even if he could remember just about everything up to being hit in the face with a metal pole, it didn’t explain how he ended up in bed with Billy. It just didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. Robin and Tammy? Didn’t make sense. Last night Robin was complaining to him about Tammy Thompson in a toilet cubicle! Surely if they were together she would have mentioned it… unless she felt weird then because Steve had just asked her out. But why would she rub it in his face today? 

Hell, Steve didn’t even know Tammy was still in Hawkins. To his understanding, she’d gotten into an acting college in Los Angeles and moved there with her _boyfriend._

_Whatever. Not his biggest concern._

Back to the metal pole. Yeah, clearly getting hit in the head with a metal pole was the cause of why his head had been practically been spinning earlier but… weirdly enough there wasn’t a mark left on his forehead. He could feel it aching which is quite frankly the only validation he’s got that the pole actually _did _hit him. He expected a bruise or a gash or... anything really. But he couldn’t see one when he’d stopped to check his reflection in a store window. And when he pressed his fingers there… nothing. There was no additional pain like there should be when you apply pressure to an injury. And you know what? There should be marks on his face! Because if he recalls, then he took one hell of a beating in that underground base by Russian interrogators. Really he's not complaining that his face is seemingly in perfect condition, but it's a bit freaky.

He decided to just shrug it off.

Honestly, he just wanted to get home and sleep.

As he progressed into town, his gaze kept dropping to the lamp in his hand. It kept making him _think_ and _thinking_ was hurting his head. Especially when he tried thinking about the Upside Down and why Robin hadn’t known what he’d been talking about. Maybe she’d been joking? Or trying to keep it a secret because Tammy was right there? Yeah maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned it in front of Tammy, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

He still didn’t even really know what happened with the Upside Down!

Wait- It’s morning. That means that whatever did happen at Starcourt should be publicly known by now-

Steve rushed over to a newspaper bin, fishing one out and reading the headlines.

Nothing. There was NOTHING about Starcourt which was likely in ruins after the Mind-Flayer attack. Surely that’s front-page worthy news? It apparently wasn’t even second-page worthy news. In fact, he skimmed through the whole newspaper looking for just a sentence about Starcourt, only finding a brief one about a clothing store opening up there.

Maybe… maybe that pole hit him harder than he thought. Maybe Steve had been unconscious for a really long time. Maybe the incident already had been in the newspaper. Maybe this new clothes store was part of a _rebuild Starcourt program_, how was he supposed to know? His eyes then went to the date.

_July 4th, 1985, Thursday_

Ok. The same day then. Did the time frame even add up here? It’s only morning so…how could he have escaped the Russian underground base and gone all the way to Billy’s house? Why would everybody even let that happen? Why would he even do that? Why was Robin so chill about it? And he’s not even going to address the bit where she claimed he and Billy were married. How had she friggen hooked up with Tammy Thompson when literal hours ago they were battling the Mind-Flayer! Which by the way she doesn’t even seem to remember. Which is just perfect really.

Well, this is some classic Steve Harrington luck, isn’t it? Here he is stood in the middle of town wearing a bedsheet, holding a lamp and a newspaper. Jesus, _he _should be in the newspaper for this. His parents would throw a fit seeing him in such a state, so it’s a good thing they’re not in town until like next week.

Feeling exposed he continued walking his way home which was still a good few miles away. Maybe he’d make it back by dinner time. Not really paying attention to his surroundings he continued staring at the newspaper, still searching for the smallest bit of media coverage on what happened last night. Surely a whole shopping mall being attacked couldn’t just be ignored by the media. He didn't know how long it usually took for a local newspaper to report things.

_The only thing that could make this situation worse was if-_

Tires screeched, snapping his attention away from the newspaper and forcing him to acknowledge he’d been crossing the road. A yelp tore from his throat and he rose his hands to shield himself, but the car jolted to a stop just before hitting him. Stumbling away from it he rose a hand to apologise before realising who had almost run him over.

“Nancy?!”

Through the front window, sure enough, sat Nancy.

A window rolled down. “Steve? What are you-“

“Wait- wait!” He exclaimed, holding up the hand clutching the lamp. “Before you say anything tell… uh… tell me if you’re still with Jonathan.” he demanded, needing to know if she had magically changed as well.

Nancy stuck her head out the window with furrowed eyebrows. “Is this a joke?”

“Answer the question.”

“Yes. I’m still with Jonathan.” She responded exasperatedly. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh, thank god, you’re still normal.” He breathed, clambering around the side of the car to the passenger side. “I- I need to get out of here, I don’t know what’s happening right now and Robin’s dating- a- she's dating- a person but I can't say who and I woke up next to Billy and I think I’m about to have a mental breakdown so could you please give me a lift?!” He asked her in one quick jumbled mess.

Nancy simpered and nodded, gesturing to the passenger seat. “Sure, hope in” she agreed, and he practically leapt into the car. Once he was buckled up she continued driving. “So... run by me again what’s going on?”

“Believe me when I say I have no idea. After last night...shit.” He mumbled around his fingernail that he was currently chomping on, trying to relax now that he was safely in the car. “Do you know what happened after we separated?”

Nancy knit her eyebrows together. “Um... we both moved on? That was years ago, why are you asking now? Oh, by the way, where am I dropping you off, at your house or somewhere else?”

“My house is fine. And no I meant when we got separated last night, you know at Starcourt? You took the car and...” he trailed off at her puzzled expression. "No, no, no, no why do you look like you don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Because I don't?" She responded then finally couldn’t ignore the elephant in the car. “Why are you walking around town wearing… that?”

Steve scowled, trying to stop himself from thinking the worst. “I was in a rush and didn’t think it through.”

“In a rush going where?” She snorted.

“Home!” He exclaimed, feeling irritated and knowing he shouldn’t take it out on Nancy but currently she was in the range of fire. “Listen- sorry. I’m having a bad day and-“

“And you don’t want to talk about it. That’s fine. I get it.” She told him with a smile. “Well I just dropped Lacey off at nursery and I’m on my way to work but… I can drop you off first. You owe me big time though cause I'm gonna be late.”

“Thanks. Thanks. Thanks.” He said while bobbing his knee anxiously and staring out the window, not even having the energy to wonder who Lacey was. He did, however, remember that Nancy works for the paper, so theoretically she’d know why nothing had been said yet… right? Well… actually, if she was just going into work now maybe she didn’t. Maybe the news hadn’t gotten the information in time and that’s why it hadn’t been published yet. So, tomorrow’s paper might have it? Should he even try asking Nancy more about last night? He was scared if he kept prodding he'd discover that she really didn't remember last night. That fear was yet to be officially confirmed.

“It’s a good thing I caught you actually. Could you tell Billy when you two are back on speaking terms that Jonathan says thanks for fixing up the car yesterday? He’s a real-life saver and we were both wondering whether he’d be up for dinner with us one day this week? I know you both have Sunday’s with the Henderson’s but… look would you just mind asking him if he likes cottage pie?"

“You want… _me _to ask _him_ that?” he replied, dread rebuilding itself in his stomach as he glanced slowly to her.

"Yes. When you guys are on speaking terms because obviously you’ve both had an argument. That’s why you’re walking around town in a huff… right? Trouble in paradise?”

Nevermind. Fear most likely confirmed. 

“Oh no, not you too Nance.” He groaned, pinching the brim of his nose. “Great. This is just great.”

Nancy side-glanced him. “… must have been a pretty bad fight… I’m sorry… are you sure you don’t want to talk about it-?”

“No! There was no fight- he and I aren’t-! Oh, you know what it doesn’t matter.” He decided in utter defeat, sinking in the passenger’s seat and retreating into a sullen silence.

A whole ten seconds passed.

“…So, the cottage pie?”

“_Nancy_.”

* * *

They pulled to a stop in front of the house and Steve instantly felt the urge to punch something become increasingly more difficult to resist. No, scrap that, he felt the urge to throw up.

“Nancy.” He spoke as calmly as possible. “Why are we here?”

The girl in question side glanced him. “You asked me to drop you off home-“

“Well this isn’t my house is it!” He snapped at her, finally losing his chill. Somehow he's right back where he started, outside Billy's house. “Since when have I lived on this street? Before you even try pulling the marriage card, I am _not _married to Hargrove! And I definitely don’t ever want anything to do with him! He tried to run you over with his god-damn car last night, so I don’t know why everybody is acting like he isn’t the enemy because-because he is! We shouldn't even be having this conversation right now.”

Nancy blinked at his explosion and remained quiet for a few seconds before saying, “Steve, I don’t know what you’re talking about. He fixed my car he didn’t try and run me over. I didn't realise things with you guys were so bad, you sound like you’re considering a divorce-“

He let out a slightly deranged laugh. “Is this some kind of joke? Are you all screwing with me? Henderson's idea, right? This has his name written all over it. Cut the crap already and tell everyone to knock it off. You got me.”

“Ok, I really don't know what you're talking about. Stop it this isn’t funny-“

“No, it’s not funny!” He cried out. “Nothing about this is funny. If this is a joke I swear to God you’re all dead.”

Nancy frowned. “Nobody’s messing with you. Are you feeling okay? Maybe we should take you to see a doctor.”

Steve grit his teeth. “I’m _fine_.”

“But you don’t sound it. If you’re not going to see a doctor then I really think that you and Billy should-“

He screamed and shoved his head into his hands, fingers clutching at hair so tight he probably ripped out a few clumps. “Stop talking about him! I told you _I'm fine._”

There was a tense silence between them then, Nancy allowing him to gather himself before he said something he might regret. The engine was still running, the gentle hum coaxing his temper down the more he focused on it. A hand tentatively patted his shoulder.

“Okay, okay. Just calm down. How about I take you to your parent's house instead?” She offered cautiously and that whole sentence sounded like music to his ears.

“Please.” He mumbled through his fingers, proceeding to drag his hand down his face and let it fall onto his lap.


End file.
